WTFFF?

Okay, we’ve talked the big-giveaway-considered-harmful thing to death, so I’ll just summarize: bad WizKids, no biscuit. But: Fin Fang Foom? I mean, bottom of the barrel much? Or is this a tacit admission that WK has become big, green, destructive, impossible to ignore and mighty dumb?

Seriously, it’s gotten to the point where the only possible reason they are doing this big figure is so they have a big figure to give away. To comics retailers.

to be completely fair, there was a LOT of discussion last year on HCRealms.com about who the next big fig should be, and FFF was not only agreed upon as the logical choice, he seemed to have quite a fanbase.

yeah i know, it’s only one message board, internet echo chamber, etc. so who really knows. but there’s at least a nugget of info out there suggesting there’s demand.

Actually, Rich is on track here – FFF has been pretty popular lately (hey, I’m just telling you what I see). In fact, he was the first major boss in the recent Marvel Ultimate Alliance game for the next gen consoles. Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I don’t buy HC, so why does my opinion really matter…

I will say this … I’m a big fan of Marvel comics. I hang around with a pretty decent sized group of guys who are also into Marvel (about a dozen of us). Our universal response to FFF was VERY positive. It’s a really cool, quirky character and I think a great choice.

My point is only that, at least in my conversations at the local shop, FFF is a choice that comic book fans are really quite excited about. My guess is that, for someone who hasn’t really been into comic in awhile (and, as a gamer, I will assume you were all into comics at SOME point), this seems like an odd choice.

yes i read comics, but never really super hero comics, i have the first 22 excalbure or somethng, but dropped it like a bad hobbit once claremont started his cross time caper or whatever it was.

fff sounds like a bad throw back to he 70’s. Not that i have any idea who fff is other then looking on wikipedia. Is he actually playing a staring role in the comics now?

Is fff being picked because “some guy at wizkid like him” or is he popular enough to sale. This is actualy a question worth thinking about, heroes clix may or may not be popular (i don’t know) but i do know that wizkiids doesn’t have thoese game workshop pockets, where they can afford too throw money at an unpopular prooduct (lotr minitures anyone?)

SD: we make a lot of assumptions about geek culture, such as the one that they all automatically overlap, that I don’t think are warranted a lot of the time. The point is that HeroClix is a game, and I think it’s safe to say that WK has stopped trying to sell it to gamers, or anyone whose chief focus isn’t comics, whether or not it ever was comics. And this game figure that they aren’t making for gamers is going to mess up a gaming trade show… again.

That’s actually an interesting point. The truth is, I have no idea if HeroClix crosses over into the non-comic reader market. Everyone I know who plays is also a comics reader (well, sometimes the wives play — and actually quite enjoy it — but they would never have bought the game on their own).

A more interesting questions is: is there a good reason for a company to CARE if it targets the generic “gamer?” If a comic book audience is buying these, either to play or just to keep on the shelf, then maybe that’s all that matters. I would argue that the “gamer” market ain’t really lucrative because it’s too divided to target as a whole, so most attempts are doomed to failure.

To that end, I know a number of non-gamers who read comics and buy the Clix just to have the figures on a shelf. I buy them mostly to use for my own custom game, but do not otherwise buy miniatures of any kind (and never have).

HorrorClix arguably appeals to a more generic “gamer” (especially when you mix in sci-fi elements like AvP). Is there any indication that they are doing significantly better with that line?